Title
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Procedure on Preparing Mission Ready Continuity Plans
Procedure Statement
Campus departments must develop a written plan of action for mitigating the effects of unexpected events which may disrupt their normal business operations. These continuity plans also known as UNC-CH Tar Heel Mission Ready should be flexible, updated on a regular basis, maintained in readiness, and be easily retrievable when needed. Although the printed, hard-copies of the plans are to remain with each campus department, a repository of all campus plans will be reviewed and maintained in the Mission Continuity software, Tar Heel Mission Ready.
Forms and Instructions
Each campus department is responsible for writing their own mission ready plan. Departments with multiple locations or a number of separate units have discretion as to what organizational level their plan is written. The department head can instruct each individual unit or location to complete its own plan, or one master plan can be written for the entire department. Either way is acceptable as long as the plan covers all operational exposures and is written effectively.
Risk Management Services provides resources and tools to help departments prepare their mission ready continuity plan. Tar Heel Mission Ready is UNC’s online program for creating, storing, and maintaining plans. To initiate a plan, please fill out the User Registration Form and submit to Risk Management. Someone from Risk Management will grant you access to a plan and assist you through the process.
Risk Management Services has also developed a User Guide and on-line training for Tar Heel Mission Ready which can be accessed on the Risk Management Services website.
While departments should utilize the aforementioned resources to create and maintain a workable mission continuity plan, the process behind creation of this plan involves a number of sequential steps. The following five steps identify an effective process for preparing a mission continuity plan and correspond with the information requested in our mission continuity software:
- Initiation - Campus departments' senior leadership and other necessary stakeholders should be involved in initial conversations defining the scope of the plan, the goals and objectives, who is to be involved, and a time line for completion.
- Conducting a Mission Impact Analysis - Campus departments should conduct a comprehensive analysis of:
- your critical functions,
- how long before the department would need to resume these critical functions to prevent significant loss of service, revenue or materials,
- internal and external dependencies and
- an estimate of the resources needed for a successful resumption.
- Defining Strategies - Once the mission impact analysis is complete, campus departments should evaluate the alternative strategies that are available to resume operations and select the most effective one(s).
- Developing and Implementing the Plan - Campus departments should define the scope of the planning effort and put the plan into a state of readiness. All necessary stakeholders should be familiar with and approve the plan. And finally, campus departments should make sure the plan is accessible and can be retrieved when needed.
- Maintenance and Testing – Mission continuity plans should be flexible with updates and revisions when needed. Assign a plan administrator who is responsible for keeping the plan in a state of readiness. Campus departments should also test plans to identify their strengths and weaknesses.
When your department's mission continuity plan is complete, make sure it is available when needed. All departments must test and update plans at least every 12-18 months.
Remember that your campus building may not be accessible during a loss, so backup copies should also be maintained at an alternative location. An electronic copy that can be accessed remotely is always available in Tar Heel Mission Ready and should also be made available to all necessary stakeholders. In the event of a disaster, Risk Management Services can access your plan if all other options are unavailable.
Forms
User Registration Form - Tar Heel Mission Ready
Related Policies
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Policy on Mission Continuity Planning
Related Data
Risk Management Services and Business Continuity